Three dead after fire engulfs Johnson Street, Victoria home

Three people have died in a house fire in Victoria.

Photograph by: Chad Hipolito
, Canadian Press

VICTORIA — Three people are now dead after a house fire on Johnson Street early this morning. Global BC has reported the third person injured, a woman, succumbed to her injuries in hospital around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The three victims, two females and one male, were in their early 20s. The male victim was found on the porch outside while the two females were found upstairs on the third floor.

Victoria Fire Chief Paul Kowalyk told Global BC it appears the fire started on a couch outside on the porch and spread up the siding of the house.

The blaze engulfed the multiple-unit rental home around 4 a.m. There was a party at the home earlier Friday night so it was difficult for responders and friends to decipher who was staying in the home and who was hurt or missing.

John Muller has left the party around 3:30 a.m. Saturday after helping to clean up. He said everyone were heading to bed.

“We only found out what happened this morning,” he said at his Fairfield home, where a group of friends were gathering to share information, hugs and tea. “We’re not even sure who died.”

He did say his friends who lived in the main floor suite were taken to a hotel by emergency responders to rest. There was also a couple living in the upstairs room, which appeared to have the most fire damage at its sole entrance.

While fire officials have not released the cause of the fire or where it started, the front porch and side of the house were clearly scorched the worst. Muller said there had been two couches on the porch.

The Facebook invitation to the party at 1320 Johnson Street called it an Aphrodisiac Love and Appreciation event. Guests were encouraged to bring herb-infused treats and libations.

About 40 people RSVP’d to the event, although it’s unconfirmed how many attended or were at the home at the time of the fire.

At least two of the tenants were students at the Pacific Rim College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said friend Angela Furfaro at the scene.

She had been at their house the night before for a party and left around 11:30 p.m. to go home a few doors down. She happened to be riding her bike by the next morning and stood shocked to see there’d been a fire at the house.

“I heard sirens last night and thought ‘Wow, that’s close,’” she said through tears. “I need to find out what happened. I need to call my friends.”

Taxi driver Noah Ferguson was one of the first on the scene. He finished his shift at 4 a.m. and was on his way home when a few cars pulled over in front of him on Johnson Street and he followed suit to see what they were looking at.

“The entire front entrance and front corner of the house was engulfed in flames. It was absolutely a raging inferno,” he said. “The heat was face-searing from the other side of the street.”

Ferguson said he could not see any sign of people in the burning house, “I couldn’t imagine how anybody could’ve gotten out of that,” but he did see neighbours stir.

He yelled at them to get out of their houses. One fellow ran out of his home to move his vehicle, which proved smart, as a van nearby caught fire.

The first responder he saw at the scene was a police officer carrying a fire extinguisher. He went straight for the burning van.

Const. Mike Russell from the Victoria Police said two roadside officers responded: One went for the van with the fire extinguisher and the other went to the back of the house to help evacuate people, suffering smoke inhalation in the process.

Within minutes the fire chief and firefighters arrived, Ferguson said. The Victoria Fire Department is less than a block away, on Yates Street.

“They moved efficiently but looked to be taken aback,” Ferguson said. “It was awful.”

Mike Hyde, a neighbour, was woken by another neighbour on the east side of the burning house, who banged on his bedroom door and told him to get out.

He went outside to see the fire trucks and the house on fire. He said the home was a rental. Young people, college-aged, appeared to be the tenants. The home’s owner lives in Duncan, he said.

Another neighbour, who didn’t want her name used, said her landlord woke her around 4:30 a.m. and told her and her partner they should get out of the house.

They went outside to find the chaotic scene of the fire next door, emergency crews and people on the street.

“Firemen carried people out and put them on the ground, cutting their clothes off,” she said, adding they were not conscious.

Deputy Chief of Operations Mark Cline was at the scene of the fire by around 6:40 a.m. as firefighters still worked to put out hot spots in the charred character house.

“We’re still trying to confirm everything at this point,” he said. “There are still people inside.”

Cline said he thought three people died in the fire and several others were taken to hospital.

Nearly two hours later neighbours still stood outside watching in the morning cold. Firefighters worked to put out the last smouldering of the blaze, with at least one deceased possibly still inside the structure.

Some firefighters covered in soot and sweat began to peel off their jackets, visibly exhausted. A lone fireman walked down Johnson Street towards the firehall, his face scrunched with tears as he crossed the police tape line and left the scene.

By 9:30 a.m. the coroner was on site and at least one body was taken away. Johnson Street was reopened by noon.

The names of the deceased have not been released.

Todd Howard, president of the Pacific Rim College, said he heard this morning some of his students might have been involved in the house fire but has had no confirmation on who or how.

“Whether or not the victims were Pacific Rim College students, this is a tragic event,” he said.

“We are just stunned at this point in time. We are still waiting for more information on the event, but we are already exploring ways that we can support our students and faculty during this tragic time.”

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